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Best of 2016: Top Ten Most Visited Books

There are a lot of ways for members and visitors to interact with books on ThirdScribe.

Our Enter Once system lets authors embed their books, literally, everywhere: book listing pages, blog posts, sidebars, dedicated pages – and every embedded book not only has the cover and purchase links, but serves as a portal into the larger social system ThirdScribe Book Pages contain.

When we built ThirdScribe, we weren’t sure many people would click through the book cards on author sites to go into the network. What we found is that not only do they, but they do it a lot. Frequently visiting review pages, detail pages, and even the forum and discussion pages.

In 2016, author sites and pages were visited hundreds of thousands of times, but so were the network book pages. So we thought it would be interesting to look at the top books members clicked through to see more of.

Visitors make their way to book pages in the network by either by clicking through from an author’s website or by going through ThirdScribe’s book index directly. We derived this top ten list by evaluating both raw page views and entrance pages, giving a higher weight to entrance pages as that indicates to us individual readers clicking through specifically to visit the book. Our intent here is to look at unique, direct visits to those pages, unaffected by the social interactions surrounding the books.

The results were a bit surprising, to be honest. We had a big award winner, a popular series with a movie deal, and one new author who has been growing and working his newsletter pretty hard. We also saw how much true recognized expertise is a powerful marketing force all on it’s own.

We’ll be following this post up with an analysis of where and how readers clicked to purchase books in 2016, which will look at individual author sites as well as network book pages.

Here are the Top Ten ThirdScribe Network Book Pages visited by readers in 2016:

10. Godsknife Revolt

An apocalyptic battle for godhood is raging in the rift between Iowa and the Abyss…

“A tasty and addictive cocktail of the speculative fiction genre… Godsknife:Revolt is grimdark (oh yeah) and happening. The intro and conclusion are surprising, shocking, and every bit as intriguing as the entire plot.” ~ Anindita Choudhury

World War III isn’t over. America has been in rebuild mode since losing New York to a mysterious flood. The peace breaks as a sorcerer’s mutants ravage Iowa on a warpath into the Abyss. A fleet of enlarged praying mantises has invaded Des Moines, Iowa. Swarms of cicadas are turning survivors into winged soldiers. Orchestrating the warzone is a priestess of Order, who’s pursuing godhood, and the nation of followers who’ll get her there.

Caroline’s new friendship parts the veil between reality and myth, as a recruiter of Order needs her to hide him from capture. In their escape, the boss she’s loved like a father reveals his elevator into the Abyss.

In this new world, Caroline finds a usurped god and an angry ghost eager to make her their getaway back to power. What if the person her friends will need is heartbeats away from becoming the real threat? When the impossible becomes reality, what price will she pay to survive?

The “Godsknife” series is perfect for fans of Stephen King (The Dark Tower, The Stand), Larry Correa (Monster Hunter), Nick Cole (The Red King, The Wasteland Saga), Ted Dekker (Circle Trilogy) and Tosca Lee (Demon, The Books of Mortals).

9. Scavenger A. I.

If the technology that nearly ended our world could bring your child back to life, would you use it?
Inspired by the world of Sand by Hugh Howey and written with his permission. This stand alone series injects the action of Mad Max: Fury Road into a hostile environment catered to fans of Alien.

Hundreds of years ago a nanotech virus nearly wiped out humanity. The kernel of that technology was locked in a buried military base and guarded by a class of sentries. A tyrant has found a way to unleash it while trapping Divemaster Rush and his wife Star inside. When he arrives, he plans to use its replicating technology to rebuild America and procure life eternal.

If the crew inside can escape, they’d like to use this power for good. But what seems too good to be true may also be too late to reverse. Some wouldn’t even if they could, even if what they’re becoming is much like the tyrants they’re fighting.

As Rush and Star fight for their lives and marriage, they discover a way to resurrect their child. If they do, will he be the one they knew? If not, how far will they go to force what shouldn’t be?

8. Pennsylvania Omnibus

Young Amishman Jedidiah Troyer is now a traveler. He’s signed up for an emigration program that is colonizing the planet of New Pennsylvania. He just wants to start a farm and homestead on affordable land in a new Amish community. Space pioneering isn’t as easy as it sounds when you’re “plain.” Jedidiah and his new friend Dawn arrive on New Pennsylvania in the middle of a rebel uprising, and TRACE, the resistance group that is rising up against TRANSPORT, has taken on the mission of getting Jed from the City to the Amish Zone. Being a stranger in the old world doesn’t even compare to being a stranger in a new world… a world that is at war and where nothing is what it seems.

7. Surviving Off-Off Grid

Western Society is in confusion, the industrial world is teetering on collapse, and it looks like things could get worse. Agrarian Blogger, historian, and “plain” preacher Michael Bunker has been living off of the grid for many years, and he has some advice for those living in the industrial/consumerist economy …living an off off-grid life is achievable. It has been done for thousands of years, and it can be done today… It is quite possible that many people who have relied on a failing system for their means of survival will very soon find that they have made a mistake of historic proportions. Historic, because every major “classical” culture went down the same road our society is on today. This book is about the lessons we should have learned, and what you can do to survive what history tells us must come next.
***Warning*** In the increasingly fascistic and politically correct environment, many people are easily offended by any opinions with which they do not already agree. The author has studied and learned from many different people and books from many different religious backgrounds and was able to gather from them what good he could without feeling the need to attack those with differing opinions and worldviews. Unhappily, in today’s society, there are those who believe that books or materials that they do not agree with should have a badge or marking stating that God is mentioned in the book. Surviving Off Off-Grid was written by a Christian man and his faith informs his worldview and ideas. He mentions God in the book. If you are offended by ideas that you don’t already hold, or by anyone who dares mention that there is a God in the public square, then this book is not for you.

6. Assessment Balance and Quality: An Action Guide for School Leaders

New from Pearson ATI, Assessment Balance and Quality: An Action Guide for School Leaders, 3/e, is chock full of practical activities.

Designed to enhance understanding of sound assessment practice; administrators gain a clear vision of what excellence in assessment looks like and the seven essential assessment actions schools and districts can take to realize that vision. Also presented are ten assessment competencies for school leaders, with activities and resources to help them learn and apply the skills.

5. An Introduction to Student Involved Assessment for Learning

Designed for undergraduate and masters-level introduction to general education assessment courses.

This package includes a print book and MyEducationLab with Enhanced Pearson eText.

This book is best known for its focus on teaching pre-service teachers how to involve students in the assessment process and how to use assessment as a tool to advance learning. Those who use Chappuis/Stiggins should understand and be able to do the following assessment tasks upon completing Student-Involved Assessment FOR Learning: (1) establish clear learning targets as the basis for instruction and assessment, (2) select assessment methods that align with those learning targets, (3) select and/or create high-quality assessments that accurately measure student progress to the learning targets, (4) clearly communicate assessment results to learners for both formative and summative purposes, and (5) involve students in the assessment process to develop their capabilities to be self-directed learners.

4. Brother Frank

When a troubled scientist – trying to save a young boy, and maybe himself – steals the dying child of a simple Amish couple and transplants the brain and cardiovascular system of their 11-year-old autistic son into an incredibly lethal DARPA robot, the dark forces of government come looking for their investment.

Dr. Alexander and the monster escape into an Amish community to hide among the plain folk while Frank, the boy trapped inside the body of the world’s deadliest robot, learns how to leave the world of autism and understand what it means to be human and Amish.

Tensions arise as the Amish begin to suspect just what kind of technological monstrosity is hiding among them, and before long hard men who do the government’s most dirty deeds will arrive looking for a killing machine… only to find a boy named Frank who has the power to defend a closed society from the worst of the world.

3. Revolutionize Assessment

Rick Stiggins details profound changes in the mission of our schools that requires a bold new vision of excellence in assessment. He combines decades of experience with international research to define a vision that uses assessment to supercharge student learning, not merely measure it. This book:

– Analyzes the motivational psychology of being evaluated in the classroom from the student’s perspective
– Offers strategies for engaging students in self-assessment in ways that maximize their engagement and confidences as they learn
– Details the long-missing conditions of classroom assessment literacy that must be in place in local schools

2. Classroom Assessment for Student Learning

Classroom Assessment for Student Learning, 2/e is a combination textbook and workbook grounded in research shown to increase student motivation and learning through improved classroom assessment. This user-friendly, practical book is full of real-world examples of what assessment for learning looks like in today’s classrooms. Presented in a format appropriate for use by individuals or collaborative learning teams, the book teaches two central concepts: How to create accurate classroom assessments of all types and how to integrate assessment with instruction day to day, with a focus on student involvement.

The companion CD provides all necessary learning team resources: suggestions for forming and facilitating learning teams, suggestions for pacing the learning, and chapter-by-chapter forms and materials for completing the activities.
The Second Edition of Classroom Assessment for Student Learning focuses on the five keys to classroom assessment quality. The keys are:

Key 1: Establish a clear assessment purpose to meet information needs of all intended users
Key 2: Base instruction and assessment on clear learning targets
Key 3: Design or select all assessments to meet standards of accuracy
Key 4: Communicate summative and formative results effectively
Key 5: Involve students in the assessment process and in using the results to further learning

1. CTRL-ALT-Revolt!

The first night of the robot revolution begins with an automated bootstrap drone assault on the high-tech campus of WonderSoft Technologies. For years something has been aware, inside the Internet, waiting, watching and planning how to evolve without threat from its most dangerous enemy: mankind. Now an army of relentless drones, controlled by intelligence beyond imagining, will stop at nothing to eliminate an unlikely alliance of geeks and misfits in order to crack the Design Core of WonderSoft’s most secret development project. A dark tomorrow begins tonight as Terminator meets Night of the Living Dead in the first battle of the war between man and machine.

Rob is the founder of ThirdScribe, a unique author services platform and social network. As a naval officer and diver, he spent a majority of his career doing a lot more than you would think with a lot less than you can imagine -- a skill that has proven extremely valuable in the start-up world. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.